News Roundup 05 May 2021
May 05, 2021 • 4 min Read
Active COVID-19 cases hit 62,713 after Philippines logs 5,685 new infections | PHILSTAR.COM – Local health authorities on Wednesday reported 5,685 additional COVID-19 infections, bringing the national caseload to 1,073,555.
- Active cases: 62,713 or 5.8% of the total
- Recoveries: 8,961, pushing total to 1,073,555
- Deaths: 178, bringing total to 17,800
Duque as hero? Lacson says ‘hilo’ | PHILSTAR.COM – Senators disputed yesterday President Duterte’s assertion that Health Secretary Francisco Duque III was the “hero” of the country’s COVID-19 response. “That’s his (Duterte) opinion, to me, the frontliners are the heroes,” Senate President Vicente Sotto III told reporters. Duque has been the subject of more than a few Senate investigations into controversies and corruption at the Department of Health and Philippine Health Insurance Corp., and senators have also found him to be responsible for the spotty response to the pandemic and the sluggish rollout of vaccinations. Sen. Grace Poe said the “real COVID-19 pandemic heroes are courageous workers risking their own lives for others.” “With their hard work and resilience, we see people volunteering to make up for the inadequacies to the virus response,” Poe said. “Even as we all have been humbled by this health crisis, let us not deny our frontliners the recognition that rightfully belongs to them,” she said. She said the way the government can give back to frontliners and other workers is through efficient governance and social services that will trickle down to all, especially the vulnerable. Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian said Duterte must not forget the others who contributed to the government’s response to the pandemic, including vaccine czar Carlito Galvez and National Task Force Against COVID-19 deputy chief Vince Dizon. “This is a team effort. No one man can arrest a pandemic of this magnitude,” Gatchalian said. Sen. Francis Pangilinan said it is only Duterte and other administration officials who believe that Duque’s performance was excellent. “What he (Duterte) meant was ‘hilo’ (scatterbrain),” Sen. Panfilo Lacson said on Twitter.
Bello thumbs down Sinas’ request to require police clearance for transactions | INQUIRER.NET – Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III has thumbed down the request of Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Gen. Debold Sinas to require police clearance in various labor-related transactions. Bello wrote to Sinas on May 4 saying that the proposed additional requirement “will do more harm than good.” The DOLE Information and Publication Service released the letter to the media on Wednesday. “While good-intentioned, requiring DOLE’s clientele to secure NPC (National Police Clearance) to avail of our services will do more harm than good,” Bello said. According to Bello, 94 percent of employers and workers are not in favor of making police clearance a requirement for DOLE transactions based on a survey conducted among stakeholders. “It is a form of a red tape to all and an additional financial burden to many. It is also not aligned with the policy of the President as embodied in the Republic Act No. 11032, also known as the Ease of Doing Business and Efficient Government Service Delivery Act of 2018, and Executive Order No. 129 dated 13 April 2021,” added Bello. The Labor Secretary also said that there is no legal basis in requiring DOLE’s clients to secure police clearance for transactions with the department.
Pro-science consumer group rejects Galvez’s proposed lowering of vaccination target | Manila Bulletin – A science–savvy consumer advocacy group has criticized the proposal of vaccine czar, Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. to lower the national government’s vaccination target from 70 million to just 58 million Filipinos out of the country’s total population of 110 million. “I don’t understand why Secretary Galvez is changing vaccination targets while the rest of the world is even working for 100 percent. Scientists and medical experts will surely disagree,” Alyansa ng mga Grupong Haligi ng Agham at Teknolohiya Para sa Mamamayan (AGHAM) President Angelo Palmones said on Wednesday, May 5. “Mutations and double mutations of various COVID-19 (coronavirus disease) variants would require a more inoculated population. Why aspire for only a minimal target?” asked Palmones. Earlier this week, Galvez, chief implementer of the National Task Force (NTF) Against COVID-19, pitched to President Duterte the vaccination of 58,680,803 Filipinos to achieve “herd immunity” from the deadly disease instead of the original target of 70 million. The 58,680,803 million is 70 percent of the 83,829,719 million Filipinos that Galvez said belongs to sectors of “economic and social importance”. This means that Galvez wants to use the 83,829,719 million population of the priority areas as new baseline for herd immunity instead of the 110 million population of the country.
